Usual Caveat: This is really not recommended for first-time readers, and as with most read-alongs, these posts will contain spoilers.

I'll be consolidating the links to my weekly Lunar Readalong posts here for a while, since I have a lot of posts on Page 1 of this forum now, but also since there will only be a few more descriptions of the moon in the story from now on.

This week's Readalong starts with "The Dawnless Day" (though I hope that's not really the case where you live ), Book VI starts later in the week, and it ends with "The Last Debate": the day after "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"!

Frodo sees the moon escaping the creeping gloom of Mordor just before dawn on Rethe 10, and since it was 2 nights past full, then about an hour before dawn it would have been just past 1/2 way between its southern peak in the sky and setting in the west. I think this is the last description of the moon for the next 2 weeks, until the eve of the destruction of the One Ring.

The moon over the Battle of the Pelennor Fields on 1419 Rethe 15
[In reply to]

Can't Post

The 3rd quarter moon would have set around noon on Rethe 15, which I think was already after Aragorn's fleet arrived at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Since the south-west wind started clearing away the gloom of Mordor that morning, then if anyone happened to look up above Minas Tirith between the time the rain cleared away and noon, they may have caught a glimpse of the 1/2 moon westering beyond Mindolluin.

This reading order is entertaining to me, but still not for first-time readers
[In reply to]

Can't Post

Tolkien gives a summary of events happening in the west at the start of Book VI, when Sam wakes outside Cirith Ungol after Frodo was captured, and it was highly entertaining to me to have just read those sections of the previous chapters when I read that overview :D

There are a few more places where Tolkien synchronizes events to previous chapters, such as Pippin seeing the same full moon as Frodo from Henneth Annun, and also Frodo seeing the sunset at the Cross-roads as Pippin sees the Prince of Dol Amroth ride into Minas Tirith. Also very entertaining to me to have just read those sections for myself on those days!

This also re-emphasizes the notion that this reading order is not for first-time readers, since Tolkien already helps you know when key events are happening at the same time.

The reading for the day of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
[In reply to]

Can't Post

For anyone who hasn't done this reading order but is curious, the amount to read on the day of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields was second only to last week's reading on Rethe 5: the day of the parley with Saruman in Orthanc and when Pippin looks into palantír. Using the 1965 edition as reference, it was about 50 vs. 60 pages (or more if you read past the midnight cutoffs until the story gets to morning, as I've tended to do).

Since it was mostly action and dialog, it was still a pretty quick read, even for a slow reader like me ;)

LOTR Lunar Readalong, week of 1419 Rethe 17: The Black Gate Opens, The Land of Shadow, Mount Doom, The Steward and the King
[In reply to]

Can't Post

This week's Readalong post covers the "desperate journey" of Frodo and Sam from the Morgai to Mt. Doom at the same time as the The Host of the West marches from Minas Tirith to the Black Gate. And by the middle of the week we also catch up with Éowyn and Faramir recovering back in the City.

There are no descriptions of the moon this week, although the new moon is marked for Rethe 21 in Tolkien's chart according to the Reader's Companion (but just after midnight on the 22nd according to the 1942 moon phases, although the site I'm using might be reporting the time according to DST whereas Tolkien's almanac did not).

When Sam was surveying the lay of the land around dawn on Rethe 19, after their near escape south of the Isenmouthe, he could have spotted a crescent moon in the south-east just above Mt. Doom, but it was surely obscured by the smoke still billowing out of the Mountain.

Tomorrow we finally read about the destruction of the One Ring! Followed by days that "were golden, and Spring and Summer joined and made revel together in the fields of Gondor."

Tonight, as "the Host camps in the Desolation of the Morannon", Tolkien describes a moon that is "four nights old" in the cloudless sky, but "there were smokes and fumes that rose out of the earth and the white crescent was shrouded in the mists of Mordor."

The new moon came more than a day later this year relative to the 1942 reckoning, so tonight's moon will be even younger and thinner. According to Stellarium, those in North America should be able to see a moon that is almost the same age and shape tomorrow night as the "four nights old" moon of 1942 Europe. Those in Europe will see a moon that is still slightly younger and smaller tomorrow night, and slightly older and larger the night of March 20th this year.

Last night, just after sunset, I got an awesome view of the waxing crescent moon next to Venus, and I hope I get another great view of the Moon again tonight :)

I think since Venus was probably near its peak orbit (i.e. its greatest eastern elongation) around the time of the Mirror of Galadriel scene, then it probably had moved to the other side of the Sun by the day of the destruction of the One Ring (Rethe 25). In other words, I'm guessing it went from being the Evening Star to being the Morning Star in that time span. So I got a view of the waxing crescent moon next to Venus that Middle-earth probably would have got earlier in the year of T.A. 3019 :)

Not sure if this has been pointed out before elsewhere, but if you reckon the Shire Calendar's New Year's Day from December 25th in a non-leap-year (as Tolkien did when aligning the moon phases of 1941-42 to the story), then Shire 'March' (Rethe) 25, the date of the destruction of the One Ring, would fall on March 20th in our calendar.

March 20th in our calendar is also the usual date of the vernal equinox in our time.

After today's reading (see below), there are no more specific mentions of the moon in the story for this year's Readalong. All that's left is a general mention of the moon near the very end of the story (more than 2 years from now by this year's schedule) on the way to the Grey Havens. Also, the story goes back to a linear, chronological order after Book VI Chapter 4, so I've consolidated all my work so far, plus figured out the "Lunar Readalong" schedule for the rest of the story, and published the results at the link above.

If anyone is following the Readalong this year, then today (1 day after the full moon), would be the date that "the Ring-bearers are honoured on the Field of Cormallen".

Although it works out that this event on S.R. 1419 Astron 8 falls on Easter in this year's schedule, it wouldn't have in Tolkien's original 1942 alignment, where Astron 8 fell on 1942 April 2 (which was a Thursday), and Easter in 1942 was on April 5. Also, for the 2021 alignment (which fits the moon phases, the solar year, and the weekdays better than this year's), this event will fall on Monday March 29 and Easter will be on April 4.

I'll probably continue making "Lunar Readalong" posts throughout this year, though I will probably stop including the page numbers and "Read until" passage snippets in my Reddit posts, since those are already published at the link above. So look for my next post around April 20th!

P.S. Bear with me as I figure out how to format the "Grand Scheme" table better with my site's styles.

Now that I've posted the complete Lunar Readalong scheme, I'll be changing the format of these posts from now on. I won't bother posting page numbers, "Read until" snippets, or 2021 dates anymore, since those are already included in the grand scheme. Starting with this post, I'll only include the Shire date, the corresponding 2018 date, the Book and Chapter, and the event summary for those dates.

Today Frodo and the Captains of the West depart the Field of Cormallen. As mentioned in the last post, the moon is no longer described in the story (until the end of the Third Age), but the 1st quarter moon was on Astron 29 in S.R. 1419 / T.A. 3019 (and will also be in this year's schedule).

This is also the last of the "interlaced" readings, and the story goes back to a linear progression with the crowning of King Elessar.

There was no moon in the sky for the Crowning, since it seems most of these events occurred in the morning, but the waxing gibbous moon wouldn't have risen until mid-afternoon.

I'll wait for the full moon for the reading about how "the glad days passed" and Faramir became Prince of Ithilien.

Once again I'll point out that the story goes back to a linear progression from here on (with the minor exception of the description of the flowering of the mallorn in the Party Field on Astron 6 next year coming before some dialog between Sam and Frodo in Rethe).